Line #13 Fanfic/FluttershyIsFree


1	A ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic written by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179 Jordan179]] in 2014. It's a sequel to the author's previous fanfic, ''Fanfic/ARobustSolution''.
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3	Set right after [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E12CallOfTheCutie "Call of the Cutie"]], it is about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and their camping trip to observe a butterfly migration. In the course of that trip, Fluttershy relates some disturbing things about her heritage.
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5	Available [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/160086/fluttershy-is-free here]].
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8	!!Tropes:
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10	* AbusiveParents: Fluttershy's mother [[AllThereInTheManual Sweetwing]] is insane. Sweetwing's husband [[spoiler:correctly]] claims not to be Fluttershy's true sire, and pays her a remittance to avoid being embarrassed by her. Her paternal uncle Windvane [[spoiler:falsely]] denies Fluttershy's descent from Commander Hurricane the First, and [[spoiler:is engaged in an [[AllThereInTheManual evil and treasonous conspiracy to overthrow Celestia by means of the blackest magic, equine sacrifice]]. And her ''real'' sire obviously raped her dam via the Changeling power of VoluntaryShapeshifting]]. Really, the wonder isn't that Fluttershy's a bit crazy, the wonder is that she's at all emotionally-functional!
11	* AllThereInTheManual: Some key aspects of Fluttershy's life, motives and relatives are revealed in [=Jordan179=]'s [=FIMFictio=]n Blog and his comments on other blogs.
12	** WordOfGod in comments to [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Bad+Horse Bad Horse]] that the events of "[[Fanfic/FluttershysNightOut Fluttershy's Night Out]]" are part of [=Jordan179=]'s Fluttershy backstory [[spoiler:as a teenager she was cruelly seduced, used and abandoned by a callous stallion]] which further explains why she's so terribly shy ''and'' afraid to seek a stallion. (This also makes Fluttershy's critical attitude toward her mother's actions somewhat [[{{Hypocrisy}} hypocritical]], while adding emphasis to why this disturbs her so much: Fluttershy is actually also criticizing ''herself'').
13	** [[http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/256710/sexual-orientation-and-behavior-of-the-mane-six-in-context "Sexual Orientation and Behavior of the Mane Six, In Context"]] makes it likely that Fluttershy's PseudoRomanticFriendship with Rainbow Dash is somewhat sexual at least on Fluttershy's part, largely because Fluttershy may be bisexual ([[spoiler:a Changeling tendency]]) and even more afraid of stallions than she is of mares. It also makes plain that Rainbow Dash may reciprocate but be too afraid of showing softer emotions to act upon it. Crippling shyness and emotional obliviousness are not the best combination for romantic happiness!
14	** [[http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/281585/legal-notice-from-high-lord-windvane "Legal Notice From High Lord Windvane"]] makes plain that her (legal) paternal family ''deeply'' rejects her, to the point that her paternal uncle Windvane:
15	*** Denies her descent even from her mother Sweetwing (and must be lying, given known Pony biology).
16	*** Uses this excuse to rob her of the title of "High Lady" which she holds by right as a direct matrilineal descent of Commander Hurricane the First.
17	*** Despises her because of her poor flight skills, presumed cowardice, and very un-Pegasus-like interests.
18	*** Has learned about her encounter with "Nosey" and is willing to accuse her of ''prostitution'' based upon this.
19	*** And is willing to malign her friends (specifically, Rainbow Dash and Rarity) in support of his spurious accusations.
20	** [[http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/286357/why-i-cannot-believe-in-a-freelove-equestria "Why I Cannot Believe in a Free-Love Equestria"]] puts Fluttershy's criticism of her mother's behavior ''and'' the events of Bad Horse's "Fluttershy's Night Out" in context: [=Jordan179=] plainly believes that Equestria is a somewhat sexually-conservative society by modern Western standards, which means that Fluttershy sees casual sex as sleazy. This makes the events of "Fluttershy's Night Out" even ''more'' painful for Fluttershy within this continuity. Poor Fluttershy.
21	** [[http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/288831/intercepted-mail-a-letter-to-windvane "Intercepted Mail: A Letter To Windvane"]] introduces Fluttershy's cousin Ill Wind, and strongly implies that he is [[spoiler:the Pony who becomes "Dr. Atmosphere." It also strongly implies that Windvane is approaching the MoralEventHorizon of ''commissioning'' the Pegasus Device and engaging in mass equine sacrifice in order to power his treasonous plans to overthrow Princess Celestia and restore the Pegasus Mandate as a fascist dictatorship dominating all Equestria]]. In other words, Fluttershy is basically related (by her ) to the in-universe equivalents of [[spoiler:Hitler and Mengele]]. Poor Fluttershy.
22	* AngelicBeauty: Rainbow Dash perceives Fluttershy as resembling the Pony equivalent of an [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angel]] (namely, an [[WingedUnicorn Alicorn]]) when she sees her flying against the sun. This is actually [[spoiler:a prophetic vision, as Fluttershy will eventually Ascend to become Princess Gaia, known to the Changelings as the High Queen Kindness, the ultimate development of the Flutter Ponies]].
23	-->''Rainbow watched for a moment from the ground, utterly bewitched by her beauty and vitality. She passed before the rising Sun, and for a moment Rainbow almost thought she could see a radiant horn springing from her head, as if she were not Fluttershy but instead some new Alicorn. It was only a momentary illusion, but Rainbow remembered it, first in happiness. Much later she would have occasion to remember it in awe, and wonder just how fast she sometimes traveled.''
24	* AnimalisticAbomination: [[spoiler:The changelings]], in their true form. Fluttershy fears this about herself, but the indications are that the beautiful pink-haired canary-coated mare ''is'' her true form.
25	* ArcWords: Some variant on "Fluttershy is free," usually along the lines of "And she was free" get repeated in several other of [=Jordan179=]'s tales involving the character. It refers to Fluttershy's stubborn defiance of any form of external control, and determination to be her own Pony.
26	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis. Though she never actually ''attacks'' Fluttershy. Her threat is more to Fluttershy's identity and personal freedom.]]
27	* BoisterousBruiser: Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately for Fluttershy, as she really needed to talk to a GuileHero, such as Rarity; or ScienceHero, such as Twilight Sparkle. Alas, Fluttershy ''chose'' to open to her oldest friend, who has all the guile and mystical knowledge of a lightning bolt.
28	* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: Two examples in-story.
29	** Fluttershy's mother is in fact crazy. She also believes that [[spoiler:there are insect-like creatures who can take Pony form and that one of them sired Fluttershy on her. She is absolutely correct in both assertions]].
30	** Fluttershy herself makes seemingly-insane claims. Even her best friend Rainbow Dash doesn't believe them. Thing is, [[spoiler:she knows one thing which means that her story of barely escaping the Changelings, and by implication of ''being'' half-Changeling herself, is probably true. She knows the name "Chrysalis"]].
31	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Rainbow Dash, when she attempts "friendship" psychotherapy to cure Fluttershy of the [[spoiler:"delusion" that she is of half-monstrous origin]]. She totally misses that [[spoiler:Fluttershy ''lies'' to her the morning after her revelations, because 'Shy now assumes that RD won't believe anything she says about being part-Changeling.]]
32	* CosmicHorror: [[spoiler:Fluttershy's]] origin is similar to that of the narrator from [[spoiler:''The Shadow Over Innsmouth'']]. Indeed, given the subsequent events of [[spoiler:''A Canterlot Wedding'']], the most menacing part of that story also logically applies to this one as well, though [[spoiler:Fluttershy]] never considers the possibility.
33	* DamselOutOfDistress: Fluttershy saves herself from [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Chrysalis]]' psychic powers by using her own psychic powers to counter her commands, and flies rapidly away from Hive Chrysalis.
34	* DarkSecret: [[spoiler:Fluttershy was sired by a Changeling, and has their [[TheEmpath empathic]] and [[EmotionEater emotivoric]] abilities]].
35	* EldritchLocation: [[spoiler:Hive Chrysalis]], located in a tunnel-riddled mesa near a menhir-crowned hill deep in the Palomino Desert. The hill is a good place to [[spoiler:contact Changelings]], and it is hinted that they keep watch on the hill for just this reason.
36	* EmbodimentOfVirtue: Surprisingly (given that they are VitriolicBestBuds) Applejack appears to be this to Rainbow Dash.
37	-->''I could talk to someone who's deeply moral! she realized. I could talk to Applejack!''
38	* EmotionEater: Two related examples.
39	** The changelings, as in canon, feed on the love other beings.
40	** [[spoiler: Half-changeling Fluttershy, who has the emotional powers of her father's kind]].
41	* TheFairFolk: [[spoiler:Fluttershy's mother]] goes seeking Flutter-ponies. She ''finds'' [[spoiler:Changelings]].
42	* FateWorseThanDeath: It is strongly implied that if [[spoiler:Fluttershy]] had been captured by [[spoiler:the Changelings]], or even listened to [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis]] for much longer, she would have become [[spoiler:the Queen's]] eternal thrall, serving her against Equestria.
43	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler:Chrysalis. Fluttershy]] only ever ''hears'' her, and is nearly enthralled by her voice alone. But then, [[spoiler:Fluttershy's father came from that Hive, and obedience to Chrysalis is embedded in her soul]].
44	* HeroicBastard: [[spoiler:Fluttershy]] was not sired by her mother's husband. She is still however descended from [[spoiler:Commander Hurricane]], as she traces that [[spoiler:matrilineally]]. Her illegitimate origin has casued her grief because [[spoiler:her father suspected this and rejected her]], but then she doesn't really like [[spoiler:her father]] all that much anyway. The part that really worries her is that she's pretty sure her real father is [[spoiler:a Changeling]].
45	* HeroicResolve: [[spoiler:Fluttershy's]] will to live free is strong enough to enable her to overcome the genetic dominance of [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis]] and make a desperate -- and successful -- flight for freedom.
46	* GothicHorror: Fluttershy comes from a very old and messed-up family, check. [[spoiler:her past hides a DarkSecret, check]]. Smells like Gothic Horror to me ...
47	* HalfHumanHybrid: Half-Equine Hybrid: Fluttershy's real father was [[spoiler:a Changeling]].
48	* IAmWhatIAm: By the time she [[spoiler:tries]] to tell [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash]], [[spoiler:Fluttershy]] has pretty much accepted that she [[spoiler:is a Changeling-Pony hybrid]]. She still, quite rationally, fears [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis and other Changelings]], but she is neither terrified of their mere existence nor does she assume that she is herself [[spoiler:a monster in any but the most technical sense of the world]]. She is [[spoiler:Fluttershy]], and [[spoiler:Fluttershy is free]].
49	* TheMasquerade: Fluttershy's mother claimed that ShapeShifting creatures secretly walk among the Ponies in Pony guise. [[spoiler:She's ''right'']].
50	* MeaningfulName: Fluttershy. Because her mother thought she was [[spoiler:half Flutter-pony]].
51	* [[MadeFromRealGirlScouts Made From Real Filly Scouts]]: Fluttershy's concluding statement:
52	-->'''Fluttershy''': I ''need'' love.
53	* MoodWhiplash: Starts as a beautiful idyll with two friends (Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy) enjoying Nature and each other's company. Takes a detour into PsychologicalHorror as we find that Fluttershy's mother is insane and [[spoiler:Fluttershy's own sanity is shaky]]. Then goes into full-blown [[spoiler:CosmicHorror]] as we learn that [[spoiler:Fluttershy ''[[DarkSecret really was'' sired by a monster]]]]. Finally, gets right back to a beautiful idyll as Fluttershy wakes up, seemingly all right, and the two friends enjoy a moment of pure ecstasy as they see the butterfly migration. [[spoiler:Though Fluttershy's last words remind the reader that her half-Changeling nature is all still too real]].
54	* MysteriousParent: Fluttershy knows that she was sired by [[spoiler:a Changeling of Hive Chrysalis. She does not know ''which'' Changeling. Or ''why'' Changelings want to sire foals on Ponies in the first place]]. This is very obviously an other horseshoe waiting to be dropped.
55	* NatureLover: Fluttershy, of course. Even the knowledge that there are [[spoiler:Changelings]] out in the Palomino Desert doesn't ruin it for her. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash is also far from immune to Nature's charms. Just don't tell anyone she got all mushy about it ...
56	* [[NonHumanLoverReveal Non-Equine Lover Reveal]]: What happens to [[spoiler:Fluttershy's mother]], when she wakes up just a bit too soon and discovers she's lain with a [[spoiler:Changeling]].
57	* NotSoExtinct: Possibly, the [[spoiler:Flutter Ponies, if they are from whence the Changelings came]].
58	* PunBasedTitle: The chapters are named after the four main stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. The third chapter is "Chrysalis." [[spoiler:Which is also the name of the story's BigBad]].
59	* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. There's no hint that either of them want to act on any sexual attraction, but Fluttershy trusts Rainbow Dash enough to tell her a rather serious secret, and Rainbow Dash finds Fluttershy's beauty breathtaking when the normally shy mare is ecstatic about the butterfly migration.
60	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash benefit from this in-story.
61	** As a [[spoiler:half-Changeling EmotionEater]], Fluttershy can actually [[spoiler:drain life force from those who feel positive affect toward her]]. For the obvious reasons, she tries to use this ability as sparingly as possible.
62	** When the Shadow is prowling around Rainbow Dash's sleeping mind, the scent of Fluttershy lying down next to her causes Rainbow Dash to feel positive affect, which drives off the Shadow.
63	* [[RemittanceMan Remittance Mare]]: Fluttershy. She comes of the oldest Pegasus lineage, her family is ashamed of her, she lives apart from them, and she never seems short of money.
64	* SanitySlippage: Happens to two characters in the tale:
65	** Fluttershy's mother was implied to be crazy before, but she goes madder after [[spoiler:she mates with a Changeling and has Fluttershy, her half-Changeling daughter]]. Eventually, she is institutionalized.
66	** Fluttershy herself almost goes completely insane when she hears [[spoiler:the inhuman voices of the Changelings in their true forms]] and, what is worse [[spoiler:realizes that she ''understands'' them, because she is ''[[TomatoInTheMirror one of them]] herself'']]
67	* ShrinkingViolet: Fluttershy. The reason she chooses to have her conversation with [[BoisterousBruiser Rainbow Dash]], of all ponies, is that Rainbow Dash is one of the few ponies in the world with whom she's ''not'' that shy (because they're foalhood friends).
68	* SliceOfLife: Save in the flashback, the story is this.
69	* ThirstyDesert: The Palomino, deep within which is [[spoiler:Hive Chrysalis]]. Though Fluttershy flies over all that waterless waste, which makes it much less of an ordeal for her.
70	* TimeAbyss: The ring of menhirs on the hill [[spoiler:just outside Hive Chrysalis]]. It has been there for well over four millennia -- it ''may'' predate the coming of The Megan.
71	* TitleDrop: The last words of Chapter 3 "[[spoiler:Chrysalis]], in which she confronts and defeats the mind control of the titular being:
72	-->She would ''never'' serve that thing. Never give up who she was.\
73	She was Fluttershy, and within her was more than just the timid little filly who hid under her own hair. Deep within her she knew she was the daughter of proud Pegasi, ones who would never bend the knee to any tyrant.\
74	She was Fluttershy. And she was ''free.''
75	* UnreliableNarrator: Two, both in-story. Both of whom turn out to be telling the truth.
76	** From Fluttershy's POV, we have Fluttershy's mother Sweetwing, who is clearly mad.
77	** From Rainbow Dash's POV, we have Fluttershy herself, who Dashie fears is deluded.
78	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Fluttershy makes the mistake of telling her foalhood friend [[BoisterousBruiser Rainbow Dash]] that [[spoiler:Fluttershy herself was sired by a Changeling]] by introducing it as the ravings of her [[UnreliableNarrator paranoid mother]]. Given that Fluttershy does not in any way look like [[spoiler:the mythical flying creature the Pegasi know as "buzzies"]] and generally take about as seriously as we do UFO sightings, Rainbow Dash simply assumes that Fluttershy has gone a bit crazy under the stress of being the [[TheUnfavorite unfavorite member]] of a [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional family]]. At this point, Fluttershy gives up trying to tell Rainbow Dash the truth. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as in canon Fluttershy is normally a ''[[ShrinkingViolet very]]'' [[ShrinkingViolet poor communicator]].

Context Fanfic / FluttershyIsFree